Penola Strait and Booth Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Mountains and icebergs in the Penola Strait (just south of the Lemaire Channel, visited earlier), Antarctica

Mountains and icebergs in the Penola Strait (just south of the Lemaire Channel, visited earlier), Antarctica

The “Penola Strait (65°10′S 64°7′WCoordinates: 65°10′S 64°7′W) is a strait 11 nautical miles (20 km) long and averaging 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) wide, separating the Argentine Islands, Petermann Island and Hovgaard Island from the west coast of Graham Land. Traversed by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition under Gerlache on February 12, 1898.  Named by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE), 1934–37, under Rymill, for the expedition ship Penola.” — Wikipedia

Iceberg arch in the Penola Strait (just south of the Lemaire Channel), Antarctica

Iceberg arch in the Penola Strait (just south of the Lemaire Channel), Antarctica

iceberg icicles in the Penola Strait (just south of the Lemaire Channel), Antarctica

Iceberg icicles in the Penola Strait (just south of the Lemaire Channel), Antarctica

 

“If Antarctica were music it would be Mozart.  Art, and it would be Michelangelo. Literature, and it would be Shakespeare.  And yet it is something even greater; the only place on earth that is still as it should be.  May we never tame it.” ― Andrew Denton

 

Iceberg spear off Booth Island in the Penola Strait, Antarctica

Iceberg spear off Booth Island in the Penola Strait, Antarctica

 

“Booth Island (or Wandel Island) is a rugged, Y-shaped island, 8 kilometres (5 mi) long and rising to 980 m (3,215 ft) off the northwest coast of Kiev Peninsula in Graham Land, Antarctica in the northeastern part of the Wilhelm Archipelago. Booth Island is located at 65°4′48″S 64°0′0″W. Discovered and named by a German expedition under Eduard Dallmann 1873–74, probably for Oskar Booth or Stanley Booth, or both, members of the Hamburg Geographical Society at that time. The narrow passage between the island and the mainland is the scenic Lemaire Channel.” – Wikipedia

[See our previous post on the Lemaire Channel for photographs of both the channel and a “portrait” of Booth Island.]

“The highest point of the island is 980-metre (3,215 ft) Wandel Peak. Damien Gildea called it “one of the most challenging unclimbed objectives on the Antarctic Peninsula”. On 15 February 2006 the peak was reached by a group of Spanish alpinists, who still avoided the last 10–15 metres (32.8–49.2 ft) of the mushroomlike top.” — Wikipedia

A rare combination of all three species of "brushtail penguins nest together -- Adélie, Gentoo and Chinstrap -- on Booth Island in the Penola Strait, Antarctica

A rare combination of all three species of “brushtail” penguins nest together — Adélie, Gentoo and Chinstrap — on Booth Island in the Penola Strait, Antarctica

Nesting Adélie Penguins on Booth Island in the Penola Strait, Antarctica

Nesting Adélie Penguins on Booth Island in the Penola Strait, Antarctica

“The Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is a species of penguin common along the entire Antarctic coast, which is their only residence. They are among the most southerly distributed of all seabirds, along with the Emperor Penguin, the south polar skua, the Wilson’s storm petrel, the snow petrel, and the Antarctic petrel. They are named after Adélie Land, in turn named for the wife of French explorer Jules Dumont d’Urville who discovered these penguins in 1840.” — Wikipedia

A mother Adélie Penguin with -- look carefully - two very young gray baby chicks on Booth Island in the Penola Strait, Antarctica

A mother Adélie Penguin with — look carefully – two very young gray baby chicks on Booth Island in the Penola Strait, Antarctica

“Based on a 2014 analysis of fresh guano-discolored coastal areas, there are3.79 million breeding pairs of Adélie Penguins in 251 breeding colonies, a 53 percent increase over a census completed 20 years earlier. The colonies are distributed around the coastline of the Antarctic land and ocean. Colonies have declined on the Antarctic Peninsula…” — Wikipedia

A proud papa Adélie Penguin on Booth Island in the Penola Strait, Antarctica

A proud papa Adélie Penguin on Booth Island in the Penola Strait, Antarctica

 

Our ship as seen from Booth Island in the Penola Strait, Antarctica

Our ship as seen from Booth Island in the Penola Strait, Antarctica

 

 

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